July 22, 2026 - Boston — A federal court on Tuesday granted emergency relief preventing the federal government from implementing unlawful U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies that threatened to strip tens of thousands of asylum seekers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders of work authorization, and to prevent otherwise eligible individuals from pursuing asylum.

The ruling, which will remain in effect while this case proceeds, comes the day before thousands of TPS holders faced the imminent loss of their employment authorization under USCIS policies implementing portions of the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Without emergency intervention, many TPS holders would have been unable to work beginning July 22, and asylum seekers faced rejection of their asylum applications and immediate termination of their work authorization.

The lawsuit, filed by the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, the National TPS Alliance, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and 32BJ SEIU, challenges USCIS policies that unlawfully impose new barriers on asylum seekers and TPS holders, including policies that threaten to reject asylum applications and terminate work authorization without adequate notice or due process, and unlawfully shorten employment authorization for TPS recipients.

Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and ASAP.

The coalition and co-counsel issued the following statement:

“This decision protects thousands of asylum seekers and TPS holders from immediate and irreparable harm while this case moves forward. Without this relief, families who have followed the law and relied on longstanding humanitarian protections faced the sudden loss of their employment authorization and ability to support themselves through no fault of their own. Asylum seekers also faced rejection of their applications for relief.  The order provides protections while the court considers the serious legal questions presented in this case. We remain committed to ensuring that people seeking safety and those protected by TPS receive the lawful process Congress guaranteed and that these unlawful policies are permanently set aside.”

The case is Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts et al. v. USCIS et al.; the legal team at Democracy Forward includes Sean Ouellette, Jennie Kneedler, Steven Bressler, and Brian Netter.

Read the decision here.

A Spanish version of this statement is available here.

Source: Democracy Forward